Bottle closure



, 1934. w. MAUSER 1,985,258

BOTTLE CLOSURE File d Sept. 6, 1930 In X Ill Patented Dec. 25, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE CLOSURE Application September 6, 1930, Serial No. 480,234

In Germany September 20, 1929 Claims.

This invention relates to a closure for bottles and containers, and in particular to a closure of the kind-in which'a metallic spreader capsule having resilient tongues is slipped over a bead 5 on the bottle or container and held fast by inwardly bent ends on the resilient tongues. Such spreader capsules are removed by pressing with the finger upon the top of the capsules, as a result of which the resilient tongues open'out and enable the spreader capsule to be removed from the bottle or container; Such a closure has the disadvantage that by pressing upon the capsule an unintentional releasing of the capsule from the bottle or container is liable to take place, for instance when cases of bottles are piled one upon the other.

It has therefore already been proposed to cover the spreader capsule, for the purpose of protecting it against unintentional release, with a further metallic capsule, or to employ as a protection an open strip of' sheet metal provided with a flanged edge, the two ends of which are connected by a sort of lock. This lock has to be broken in order to open the closure. With both kinds of fastenings it is necessary to roll the lower edge of the fastening capsule and also of the sheet metal strip inwards by means of a special machine in order to hold the fastening effectively upon the spreader capsule.

30th fastenings are comparatively expensive to manufacture, and are also-expensive in operacome very firmly connected with one another under some circumstances'owing to rusting or oxidation of the sheet metal members. The machine for applying the fastening to the bottle has to be specially built, because the fastening is not reversible and can only be applied to the bottle or spreader capsule with the open side which does not have a flange facing downwardly.

The present invention overcomes these disad vantages owing to the fact that there is employed as a fastening for the spreader capsule a simple and preferably internally smooth, closed ring of readily severable material, locking members being also provided in a special constructional form on the tongues of the spreader capsule in order to secure the fastening.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 shows a side view of the upper portion mg, more particularly because the two parts beof a bottle provided with a closure according to the present invention,

Fig. 2 a side view of the'top of a bottle with a closure according to the present invention, partly cut 'away, this view being on a larger scale than Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 a plan of the fastening ring on the larger scale,

Fig. 4 a partial outside view and partial section of the spreader capsule, likewise" on the larger scale,

Fig. 5 a cross-section through a fastening ring of modified constructional form on the larger scale,

Fig. 6 the same fastening ring fitted on to the spreader capsule of a bottle, again on the larger scale, partly in section, and

Fig. 7 a side view of the fastening ring on the scale of Figs. 5 and 6.

In the drawing 1 denotes the neck of a bottle, 2 a bead provided on the bottle, 3 the top of a spreader capsule, 4 the resilient tongues of the spreader capsule, and 5 any convenient packing disc in the interior of the spreader capsule. It will be seen from the drawing how the spreader capsule is held fast upon the bottle neck by the inwardly bent ends 4 of the resilient tongues.

According to the invention there ser.es as a fastening a simple, smooth ring 6, closed on itself, of a readily severable and preferably somewhat expansible material, such as celluloid, pasteboard impregnated with bakelite, soft metal or the like. The ring 6 is preferably in the form of a cylinder of rotation, that is, the sides of the ring are parallel and a cross section taken through any point on thecircumference of the ring presents an area the inner edge of which is a straight line parallel to the axis of the ring throughout substantially the entire width thereof. As will be seen from Fig. 2, and as indicated in this figure by a dot and dash line A-A, such a spreader capsule has a somewhat conical external surface when mounted upon the bottle. It is consequently aneasy matter to slide the closed 'ring on to this conical surface until the ring bears firmly upon the resilient tongues and thus prevents the resilient tongues from opening out in the direction of the arrow B, even if pressure is applied to the top of the spreader capsule in the direction of the arrow 0. 1

In a special constructional form one or more. fastening members are provided on the resilient tongues 4, for instance hook-shaped projections '7, pressed out of the ton ues. When the fastening ring 6 is being slipped on, these hooks dig'into the internal surface of the fastening ring 6 and hold the ring firmly upon the spreader capsule, even if the external diameter of the spreader capsuleshould not quite fit the internal diameter of the fastening ring, as is liable to be the case in view of the variations that occur in the diameter. of the bead 2 and therefore in the external diameter of the spreader capsule.

Furthermore an unauthorized removal of the fastening and opening. and replacement of the closure with the fastening are prevented by these fastening members, since in this case the fastening can only be removed by destroying it, and

such destruction discloses the unauthorized treatment.

The simple, internally smooth, closed ring or cylinder, besides being exceedingly cheap, also has the important advantage that it is reversible and can be forced on to the spreader capsule with either side upward, so that a special directing device to present the ring with the proper side upward is not required in the machine that applies the closure. It is' therefore possible to employ a spreader closure, the cost of which is hardly increased to any appreciable extent by the fastening.

The fastening ring 6 is made of such a material that it can be cut through with a knife or torn off the spreader capsule by introducing any convenient implement between the fastening ring and the spreader capsule, as a result of which the spreader capsule is set free so as to enable the bottle or container to be opened.

In the constructional forms of fastening ring illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and '7, particular attention has been paid to the circumstance that on the inside of the ring there should not be any projecting burr or ridge, if the mechanical applying of the fastening ring is to proceed reliably and satisfactorily without twisting the ring.

According to the invention, therefore, the inner edges ofthe fastening ring are rounded, and the fastening ring is preferably manufactured by cutting up a tube in an outward direction into individual rings, so that the burrs that occur are on the external surface of the ring while the inner edges of the ring are rounded.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the numeral 8 denotes a bottle neck, 9 a metallic cap closure, 10 the specially constructed holding tongues thereof and 11 a fastening ring which prevents the holding tongues from bending outwards and thereby a releasing of the metallic cap closure becomes possible.

According to the inventionthe inner edges of the fastening ring are rounded as indicated at 12.

This rounding of the edges may further be efiected according to the-invention, in manufacturing the rings, by cutting them singly from a tube in an outward direction. The inner edges thereby become rounded in the'manner indicated in Fig. 5, and the burrs produced occur mainly on the external surface of the ring, as indicated at 13. At this position they cannot disturb the correct mounting of the fastening ring upon the metallic cap closure.

In a special constructional form of the fastening according to the invention the inscription upon the ring, such as is produced by pressing marks into the ring or printing them upon it, is applied to the ring in such a manner that the letters 14 stand in the peripheral direction of the ring, as indicated by the arrow D in Fig. '7. By this arrangement the advantage isobtained that the inscription upon the ring is legible, irrespectively of which of the two edges 15 or 16' is in front when the ring is forced on to the metallic cap closure. This is important, for in the mechanical mounting of the closure rings, a sorting of the rings according to a definite position would not be possible or at least would waste a great deal of time and would therefore be expensive.

The applying ofthe inscription may be effected simultaneously with the cutting of the rings from the tube, which forms a particular advantage of the method of cutting off the rings in'an outward direction. I

The fastening may be made, in the manner described, of any suitable material, such as pastepressure is applied to the top of the capsule, a reversible annular member the inner face of which is parallel with the axis of said member throughout the width thereof positioned adjacent the tongues of the capsule to prevent spreading of the tongues and projections on the tongues engaging the plain surface of the annular member to prevent removal thereof.

2. The combination of a bottle or other receptacle having a cylindrical neck provided with a shoulder adjacent the top of said neck, with a closure for said receptacle having downwardly extending tongues adapted to engage beneath said shoulder to secure the closure on the container and an annular retaining ring the inner surface of which is parallel with the axis of said ring, adapted to he slipped over said closure and into engagement with said tongues, said closure having projections thereon adapted to engage and deformsaid retaining ring to hold the same in place and prevent removal of the closure from the container.

3. The combination of a bottle or other container having a cylindrical neck provided with a shoulder adjacent the top thereof with a closure for the container having downwardly extending tongues adapted to engage beneath said shoulder to secure the closure to the container, said closure being bowed upwardly in the center when secured to the container and adapted when depressed to cause the tongues to spring outwardly away from the shoulder to permitremoval of the closure, and a reversible retaining ring formed of severable material and having an inner'surface which is parallel with the axis of the ring throughout the width thereof adapted to he slipped over thetongues of the closure to prevent removal thereof, said tongues having projections thereon designed to engage and deform the retaining ring to prevent removal of the retaining ring from the container except when destroyed.

4. A closure for bottles and containers comprising a metallic spreader capsule, resilient tongues readily deformable material adapted to be slipped onto the resilient tongues and to hold them in closed position, and projections pressed out of the resilient tongues and adapted to deform said cylindrical member and thereby to hold the cylindrical member fast upon said tongues.

5. A closure for bottles, containers and the like comprising the combination of a capsule provid- 5 ed with tongues adapted to secure the capsule to the containers, an annular member made of deformable material having the inner surface therer of generally smooth and outward projections on the capsule adapted to engage and deform the annular member upon application thereof to the capsule whereby removal of the annular member is prevented.

- WILHELM MAUSER. 

